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2 kayakers rescued from Grand River after capsizing near Bridge Street

Grand Rapids firefighters Josh Veldkamp, left and Dave Fountain retrieve a kayak from the Grand River Friday, August 23, 2013. The two had earlier helped overturned kayakers from the river. (Chris Clark | MLive.com)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Two people were rescued from the Grand River and suffered bumps and bruises Friday after their kayaks tipped in a coffer dam near the Bridge Street Bridge.

Firefighters were called to a report of a man trapped in the boil of the Sixth Street Dam about 5:27 p.m. Aug. 23.

Police dispatch reports indicated the man was unconscious, but a man and a women were standing in the water near the Bridge Street Bridge when crews arrived, Grand Rapids Fire Battalion Chief Bart Perry said.

"We're pretty confident they did not go over the Sixth Street Dam," Perry said.

Perry said their kayaks went sideways in a coffer dam and flipped. Rescuers rapelled into the water to reach the two.

"The river is so low right now it's hard to launch a boat," Perry said. "The water's so low we can't get our boats in the river without doing damage to them."

AMR ambulance transported the pair, believed to be in their 20s, to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries.

Perry said crews believe alcohol played a role in the kayakers' decision making.

Mark Ireland, who helped rescuers pull a kayak from the river near Ah-Nab-Awen Park, said he watched the kayakers paddling in circles Friday afternoon. He said the two tried to make contact when both kayaks capsized just north of the bridge.

"They were trying to come close to each other. Over they went," he said. "He went under. The next thing you know he come up and all of a sudden we couldn't see the girl."